no Benefits of Christ's Resurrection Marvel not at this that the Apostle Paul should say Ye must be risen again with Christ that is as Christ was raised again in the Body so ye must be raised again even whilst in Body in your Spirit As the same Apostle Paul explaineth himself elsewhere touching this matter as Christ rose from the Dead even so we should rise up to newness of Life And so the like Reason is to be learned from his Crucifixion The Sixth Chapter of the Romans is full and express to this Purpose Therefore we are buried with him by Baptism into Death that like as Christ was raised up from the Dead by the Glory of the Father even so we also should walk in newness of Life For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his Death we shall be also in the likeness of his Resurrection Knowing this that our old Mnn is crucified with him that the Body of Sin might be destroyed That henceforth we should not serve Sin For he that is dead is freed from Sin knowing that Christ being raised from the Dead dieth no more Death hath no more Dominion over him For in that he died he died unto Sin once But in that he liveth he liveth unto God Likewise reckon ye also your selves be dead indeed unto Sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord Rom. 6. 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11. And so to allude unto 1 Cor. 15. 44. Christ was raised again in his Natural Body even in that Body of Flesh which He brought from out of the Womb of the Virgin Mary and He carried about him more than Thirty Years while the Lord Jesus went in and out among us So we should be raised again with him in our Spiritual Body that is in those Spiritual Qualifications and Inward Endowments which even now we have and derive down from Christ our Head altho He sits on the Right Hand of God There is a Natural Body and there is a Spiritual Body both in this our present State as well as it will be so in the future Resurrection And even now we are made up both of this Natural Body and of this Spiritual Body all one and in like manner as man is now made up of Body and Soul all one and in like manner as there is a living Soul and a quickening Spirit The first gives Life here and the latter is in order to Life hereafter And this is that first Resurrection which the Scriptures speak of particularly in that Great and Remarkable Place of the Revelations Blessed is that hath his part in the first Resurrection upon such the second Death hath no Power From what hath been aforesaid may be perceived the great Importance and Necessity of rising with Christ as also it hath been shewed from Rom. 6. what this rising and to be risen with Christ means even to walk in newness of Life For we know that when one is dead and raised again he hath thereupon a new Life or another Life given unto him And so People should turn over a new Leaf and run Counter to all the Thoughts Words and Actions of their former natural unregenerate State There is an Old Common and Proverbial Saying That People should have somewhat new upon them at Easter Which tho it be commonly understood of Cloaths and Garments yet there is some Divine and Serious Truth contained therein and to be gather'd from it And that is what was just now said now at this time our Thoughts are taken up with the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead we should also examine and prove our selves whither we be risen with him and then question further and look about or rather from within our selves whither we have any thing new on us or rather within us Do we walk in Newness of Life And have we put off concerning the former Conversation the old Man which is corrupt according to the deceitful Lusts thereof And have we put on the new Man which after God is created in Righteousness and true Holiness There is a great Fault and Failure abroad in the World amongst the too superstitious Observers of Lent and Holy-days for many think that such a Season of the Year is for Mortification and Repentance which Mortification by the way is not a Popish Word but a Gospel Duty Mortifie therefore your Members which are upon Earth Col. 3. 5. for he that is dead is freed from Sin Rom. 6. 7. Now Mortification signifies the making dead that is unto Sin whereas this ought to be a Christian's Business all the Year round And so I have read and heard that the Papists do observe their Carnival before Lent wherein they give themselves over unto Sin and to all manner of Excess of Riot like them of whom Isaiah speaketh And behold Joy and Gladness slaying Oxen and killing Sheep and drinking Wine Let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall die Isa 22 13. And so upon Shrove Tuesday they glut and make themselves drunken because afterwards they must take up and be very demure and fast And so after that is over again they return to their former Excess and Gormandizing There is too much of the Leaven and Remainder of this kind of Popery amongst too many who call themselves Members of the National Church of England for the manner of many of them is to practise a Fit of Holiness for a Season That is to be in a serious Mood upon the Sabbath or Holy-Day But then they are of the Worldly Vain and Ungodly manner of Spirit all the Residue of their time And this is like the putting on of new Cloaths at such a Season and upon such an Occasion and then putting them off again But all this and such like is not to walk in Newness of Life according to the Meaning and requiring of the Spirit of God For to walk denotes a constant and continuing Posture which we abide in as often and as long as we move It is such a pace as holds on and continues in going And so Life again is a constant and continuing thing which abides whither we sleep or wake even as long as we breathe So that to put these two together it is certainly the Will of the most High God that we his Creatures and Servants should walk in Newness of Life as constantly and continually as we move and breathe and live for the new Life is not a thing to be put on and off to be changed altered or laid aside upon every shift or turn no more than we can destroy this natural Life and raise it up again of our selves without endangering or hurting it This cannot be done And tho many pretend to live or lead a new Life for a Season as a Day or a Week or a Month and then they leave it off again and then they return to their old ways like a Dog to his Vomit But in such the new Life was never truly or
thoroughly ingrafted but it was a Shadow or Representation and a Name only of the new Life For the new Life or the new Creature is a more fixed and abiding thing than that amounts unto But that the new Life is not to be laid down again when it is once truly taken up or when we are risen with Christ we are not to fall down again into the former worldly manner of Life All this is signified by what is written Knowing that Christ being raised from the Dead dieth no more Death hath no more Dominion over him Rom. 6. 9. From which place the Inference is natural easie and necessary that if we also be risen with Christ we must die to Sin no more Death in Trespasses and Sins shall have no more Dominion over us And so from henceforth we should reckon our selves to be always dead indeed unto Sin but ever alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord if we would indeed have this Newness of Life avail unto Life for evermore That to the Life we live here in the Body there may succeed Glory hereafter That the Seeds and Principles of Holiness and Righteousness being planted and rooted in us even whilst these Souls of ours are in these Bodies so that at and against the Time when these Souls of ours go out which will be when this Life which is as a Vapour and continueth not is ended there may succeed Glory and Immortality and Eternal Life To be thus risen with Christ is the very Means that we may attain unto the Resurrection of the Dead in that Good and Happy Sense spoken of in Phil. 3. 11. and also this is that knowing of Christ and the Power of his Resurrection so significantly expressed in the Verse immediately foregoing Saith the same Apostle Paul Seeing that ye seek a Proof of Christ speaking in you and so this is the Proof of our being with Christ if we have Christ speaking in us or actuating us as the Soul doth the Body or if we know Christ and the Power of his Resurrection effectually and mightily raising us up to newness of Life knowing that he who raised up our Lord Jesus Christ will also raise up our Mortal Bodies And so the same God who raised up our Lord Jesus Christ from the Dead according to his Grace which worketh in us mightily provided we consent and yield unto and walk together with that same Grace will raise us up also from the Death of Sin unto the Life of Righteousness which word Righteousness signifies a Conformity to all the Laws and Directions of that great Rule of Righteousness in Scripture or to the new Life Which is so called in Opposition and Distinction unto that kind of Life which we did lead in our Natural and Unconverted State Every one that understands the least truly in the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God doth also know thus much That the Principal and only Drift and Design of the whole Scripture the Book of the Lord is to promote a Righteous Holy and Obedient Life in Men and Women For throughout the same are Line upon Line Line upon Line Precept upon Precept Precept upon Precept here a little and there a little and all to this same end It is not only the Result and Conclusion of the whole Matter but the Sum and Substance of the whole Bible both Law and Gospel both Old and New Testament And if there be any other Commandment and Words therein it is all briefly comprehended in this Saying Namely Fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole Duty of Man It is the whole and all which God requires of Man and tho God in his written Word which we commonly call the Bible doth therein speak of this in divers Places and sundry Manners and in different Words yet they have all a Significancy and Tendency to this The Grace of God whereby is meant and intended his written Word and Revelation answering and agreeing together as in Water Face answereth â—o Face hath appeared unto all Men teaching us that denying Vngodliness and Worldly Lusts we should live Soberly Righteously and Godly in this present World And so Moses and the Prophets Christ and his Apostles spake by one and the same Spirit of God and hence it is that they do all so wonderfully agree and meet together like several Lines in a Center in these things of Obedience Godliness Righteousness Holiness and Sobriety To these particularly the Apostle Paul instructs in and exhorts in all his Epistles wherein He uses more than a thousand Words which are all to the same Purpose and so where He expresses it in one place by being risen with Christ. In another Place by knowing of Christ and the Power of his Resurrection in another Place A proof of Christ speaking in you in another place He mentioneth A Being made Conformahle unto his Denth Yea he hath many such kinds of Phrase and Speech they are all to the same Meaning and Signification they do all carry infolden in them the same Instruction and Signification namely that we should die unto Sin and rise again to newness of Life And so tho many Captious Ignorant and Ungodly Hearers are offended and do find Fault with Repetitions and Tautologies in Sermons as to this the Apostle Paul speaketh To write the same things to me is not grievous but to you it is safe For he knew that it was a kind of making sure Work in his teaching the way of Salvation For one can never be put in Mind of a good thing too often especially of what is so absolutely necessary to our Eternal Well-Being Salvation and Happiness To preach the same things over and over doth seem to People according as they are for indeed it is not Grievous and Irksome to Godly and Christian Minds to such who seek diligently to go to Heaven and would not miss of it for all the World For these know that Precept must be upon Precept Precept upon Precept Line upon Line Line upon Line here a little and there a little Isa 28. 10. and all is little enough to bring them over unto God and good Things we being by Nature so averse towards him and apt to forget him But as for the Sinners and Transgressors to whom this kind of Repetition is so nauseous and wearisome so it would be but once to mention that which they have no Mind to hear or know If I should use more Words than what I have already to explain and make known unto you what it is to be visen with Christ I cannot truly nor yet would I explain it otherwise than by Rising again to Newness of Life or that we should live yet more unto God and not to our selves for this is the Reasoning of the Apostle aforementioned for in that He died He died unto Sin once I but in that He liveth He liveth unto God Rom. 6. 10. And so as He pursues the same and like reasoning elsewhere no Man should
THE OBSERVATION OF THE Three Great Festivals Asserted IN THE Christian Church AND THAT Objection Answered From Gal. 4. 10 11. AND ALSO The Right Manner of the Observance of Them made known In a SERMON Preach'd on Easter-Day By Richard Stafford LONDON Printed and are to be Sold by E. Whitlock near Stationers-Hall 1698. Col. iii. 1. If ye then be risen with Christ seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the Right Hand of God AND Moses said unto the People Remember this day in which ye came out from Egypt out of the House of Bondage for by Strength of Hand the Lord brought you out from this Place There shall no leavened Bread be eaten This day came ye out in the Month Abib thou shalt therefore keep this Ordinance that is of the Passeover which He then Instituted in his Season from Year to Year Exod. 13. 3 4 10. Again it is Recorded in the foregoing Chapter Exod. 12. 42. It is a Night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them out from the Land of Egypt this is that Night of the Lord to be observed of all the Children of Israel in their Generations From all this put together it may be truly Reason'd and Inferr'd That if the Eternal Spirit who is of the same Mind Yesterday to day and for ever and knows what are the things which are pleasing unto God and He doth require of us did as we see here He did command the Children of Israel to remember the Day in which they came out of Egypt the House of Bondage and it doth particularly set down the Month in the which it was with an Injunction Thou shalt therefore keep this Ordinance in his Season from Year to Year having before mention'd that it was a Night to be much observed unto the Lord yea it is repeated and enforced again That it was to be observed of all the Children of Israel in their Generations How much more ought all Christians to remember that Day in which Jesus Christ their Head and Saviour rose again from the Dead for hereby He was declared to be the Son of God with Power according to the Spirit of Holiness by the Resurrection from the Dead Rom. 1. 4. whereby He accomplished as Great yea a much Greater and more Especial Part of our Redemption as God did work a Deliverance to the Israelites by bringing them out of the Land of Egypt And as upon that Account He is the Lord their God so upon the alike and much greater Account He is the God of us Christians also by Redeeming us by his Son Jesus Christ from Spiritual Egypt the Bondage of Satan Sin and Death And as this same Redemption wrought and accomplished by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead is so much better than that Deliverance of our Fore-fathers out of Egypt which was a lesser Type and Figure of this as it hath by the Benefits and Priviledges hereby accrued and devolved unto Mankind obtained a much more excellent Name than that There is alike and greater Reason that the Time of Jesus Christ his Rising from the Dead should be remembred together with the Month for it was about the same Time that they did receive the Passeover and did Yearly Commemorate their Deliverance from out of Egypt that this Ordinance also should be kept in his Season from Year to Year And as Jesus Christ did arise again in the end of the Sabbath as it began to dawn towards the first Day of the Week Mat. 28. 1. and in another Evangelist it is said That it was the first Day of the Week early when it was yet dark John 20. 1. The Holy Ghost by recording it here in these two Places in so very a particular manner that we may guess and know within a quarter of an Hour the exact time when it was doth hereby signifie That that same Night and Day between the end of the Sabbath and the first Day of the Week or rather the twilight is a Night and a Day or a Twilight to be much observed unto the Lord for raising his Son Jesus Christ from the Dead This is that Night and Day of the Lord or the Twilight to be observed of all Christians who name the Name of Jesus Christ in their Generations For this Thing of the Twilight or Dawning of the Day seems to have been foretold by the Prophet Zechariah And it shall come to pass in that day that the Light shall not be clear nor dark But it shall be one Day which shall be known unto the Lord not Day nor Night Zech. 14. 6 7. This was exactly fulfill'd But it shall come to pass at Evening Time it shall be Light It is evident from the Fourth Verse of this same Chapter that Christ herein was prophesied of And tho these Words do chiefly seem to have Respect unto Christ's last Coming to Judgment which is yet to come yet they were in a less Degree fulfilled in the Time of his Resurrection from the Dead it being an usual Method with the Scriptures of Truth to have their fulfilling in a lesser Degree and then in a Greater and more Universal manner like as it is with the Fruits of the Earth some few of these are commonly ripe before the General and Greater Quantity are so As I could Illustrate this further and make it more evidently appear from the other and parallel Places of Scripture which in such manner have been interpreted to have been fulfilled by the Divinely Inspired Apostles But this would be to go too much aside from my Subject and intended Matter for whereas it is written And his Feet shall stand in that Day upon the Mount of Olives which is before Jerusalem on the East and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof towards the East and towards the West Zech. 14. 4. This was then somewhat fulfill'd tho I do withall believe that it will be yet more Litterally and Universally fulfill'd at his future Coming to Judgment When Jesus cried with a loud Voice and yeilded up the Ghost and behold the Vail of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom and the Earth did quake and the Rocks rent Mat. 27. 50 51. For all this comes very near and is much alike to the Mount of Olives where or near to which his Crucifixion was cleaving in the midst thereof It is a wonderful thing to consider how the Decrees and Purposes of God were made and ordered and fixed as to these material Circumstances of Place and Time Instances whereof are so very many throughout the Scripture that it is superfluous to give any other than what are pertinent to our present Matter in Hand As to the Circumstance of Time And it came to pass at the end of the Four Hundred and Thirty Years which was the time of their sojourning in Egypt even the self-same Day take notice of that it came to pass that all the Hosts of
the Lord went out from the Land of Egypt Exod 12. 41. It is a Night to be much observed unto the Lord. And so it came to pass that in those very Days and in the same time of the Year for all the Nation of the Jews were then gone up to Jerusalem to be present at this their Yearly Commemoration of their Deliverance out of Egypt and to observe the Feast of the Passeover That Jesus Christ according to the Flesh suffer'd and was put to Death on the Cross if not on the Mount of Olives yet on Mount Calvary which perhaps was a part thereof or very near unto it The Gospel saith That the Place was nigh to Jerusalem And he arose again However all this great Thing was transacted at the self same time of the Year in which that was as it doth abundantly and evidently appear from the History and Narration of all the four Evangelists concerning it And therefore it is a Night and a Day when in the Prophet Zechariah's Phrase it was not Night nor yet Day it being Twilight not Dark nor yet Light to be much observed unto the Lord yea to be observed by all Christians and by all that call themselves so in their Generations Most certain it is That it was much observed unto the Lord by the Apostles who had seen Jesus Christ in the Flesh and to whom He shewed himself alive after his Passion he being seen oâ— them Fourty Daâ—s and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God Which things are not written and recorded but by their framing their Practice accordingly and by their assembling together on the first Day of the Week in Memory and Acknowledgment that their Lord did on that Day rise from the Dead Which also is the very Reason of that Change which hath been made of the Sabbath from the Seventh Day which the Jews kept Holy in Memory of the Creation because that God had finished his Work and rested on the Seventh Day and sanctified it to our Observation of the same Day of Rest separated and set apart for the more Solemn and Universal Worship now on the first Day of the Week which is called the Lord's-Day This is in Remembrance how that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ rose from the Dead on the first day of the Week And if it hath occasion'd the Change of the Sabbath Day throughout the whole Year well then may one particular Lord's Day in the Year be observed in an eminent Manner above and more than the other Lords Days and so it is done at this Day by the Churches throughout the Christian World This is the Day which the Lord hath made we will rejoyce and be glad in it Psal 118. 28. We read often in the Gospel of the Apostles and Primitive Christians assembling together on the first Day of the Week and John saith in the Revelations That he was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day Now it is a Rule and Maxim laid down by Augustine an Eminent Preacher and Writer in the Church of God a Learned and Holy Man in his Generation That whatever was practised by the Apostles themselves and by the Generality of Christians for the first Three Hundred Iears this being long before the Corruptions Errors and Additions of Popery came in for they came in about the Six Hundredth Year after Christ and the same is agreeable to the Canoâ—ical Scriptures as the Observation of the Feast of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ commonly called Easter is Which is further manifest from the Controversies of the Eastern and Western Churches about the exact time of its Observance for both did agree that it was to be kept this saith Austine We ought to receive for Divine and Apostolick Institution And truly when we read in the Scripture it self yea in the Gospel And when the Day of Pentecost which we now commonly call Whitsuntide was fully come Acts 2. 1. Christ our Passeover is now risen therefore let us now keep the Feast the Apostle hereby seems to mean the very Feast of his Resurrection not with the Leaven of Malice and Wickedness but with the unleavened Bread of Sincerity and Truth Here is enough to justifie even under the Gospel Dispensation and in this Gospel-Day the Observation of those three Great Festivals as is the Nativity and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Descent of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost like as the Jews the antient Worshippers of the Father did observe their Feast of Unleavened Bread the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Faber cles Deut. 16. 16. These were their three times of their appearing before the Lord at Jerusalem which God hath Instituted by Moses altho with and amongst them they had brought in their new Moons and other Days of their own Institution as also some Gentile Rites and Observations the Continuance whereof amongst those who were converted unto and had received the Christian Faith The Apostle Paul reproves when he saith Ye observe Days and Months and Times and Years I am afraid of you lest I have bestowed on you Labour in vain Gal. 4. 10 11. That all this is chiefly if not only meant of the Jewish Customs Ceremonies and Observances appears from the foregoing Verse wherein he speaks unto them on this wise But now after that ye have known God or rather are known of God how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly Elements wherein ye desire again to be in Bondage Importing as if it was an Incongruous and Unseemly Thing that after they had known the High Spiritual Free and Inward Dispensation of the Gospel they should again Apostatize and fall back to the Law which was made up of mean low carnal outward and slavish Observations and Customs From all this consider'd together we may learn and be instructed to beware of Extreams or of running from one wrong Extream to another or least under pretence of avoiding both Extreams which are bad We reject also the Truth which lies in the middle of them both for as when God had Instituted by Moses such and such Feasts to be observed amongst the Jews they did further bring in some Feasts and Observations of their own Now in this case if any Zealots or Godly Reformers instead of Purging out laying aside and abrogating these last they should go on also to neglect and cast off all the former they would not have done safely nor yet well In like manner it is at this day There are in the Christian Church three Great and Solemn Festivals aforemention'd which by the usage from the beginning of Christianity and by being mention'd therein and also being agreeable unto the Gospel They seem to be of Divine and Apostolical Institution and as such they ought to be observed unto the Lord yea to be observ'd of 〈◊〉 Christians in their Generations But besides among and between these the Papists and others by Humane Imposition and Invention have brought in a vast Number of
Holy-days in Memory of the Apostles and of their Saints as they would call and make them Now in this Case if we would have all things done according to the Pattern shewed to us in the Gospel see Heb. 8. 5. we should throw off and surcease from the Observation of many or most of these latter sort but therefore in no wise from the former I speak as unto wise Men judge ye what I say That is no good Argument why we should not Yearly Commemorate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Dead because we would not willingly mind all the Saints Days in the Romish nor yet in the English Almanack Calender According to that Reasoning which may be gather'd from Matth. 23. 23. Seeing that the first seems to be the Mind and of the Institution of God This ought to be observed but the other being the Tradition Invention or Imposition of Man may be left unobserved and let alone We should be zealous for and observe each thing according as it is the Commandment and Institution of God But there is no such Obligation as to what proceeds only from the Law of a Carnal Commandment or from the Rudiments and Ordinances of Men. To shew and put a difference is one Essential Part of the Ministerial Duty Ezek. 22. 26. And thus to put a difference between what is of Divine Institution and Appointment to shew a Difference between the Law and Commandment of God and between the Orders and Impositions of Men As also to point out both Extreams for both Extreams are bad and to shew how the Truth lies in the middle way be tween them both All this Rightfully and Skilfully done would prevent abundance of Errors and Mistakes in Matters of Religion True indeed that now under the Gospel Oeconomy and Dispensation Holiness unto the Lord should be inscribed and intended in all the Actions of those who would frame and order their Conversation according to the same Gospel And consequently to a Christian Man or Woman every day to him or her not the Sabbath Day only but every Week Day also should be Holiness unto the Lord. And as every Day we draw nearer towards our End and so we ought to grow better Even so likewise we should endeavour that we keep each day to morrow more than this notwithstanding it be the Week Day and this is Sabbath more and more Holy unto the Lord and try also if you can live the next Day yet more Holy Sober and Innocent and so on Nevertheless as in the Six Days it is lawful to do worldly Work and Labour and therein we serve God acceptably also as on the Lord's Day in the Place of his Worship which yet is not lawful to do on that And as we read in the Scriptures of a double Portion and of a double measure of the Spirit of Pre-eminence and Excellency that Christ in all things should have the Pre-eminence so in like manner all this hinders not that tho every Day unto a Christian Man or Woman should be Holy unto the Lord yet nevertheless some particular Days as those Three Great Festivals before-mentioned may be Holy above all the rest by way of Pre-eminence and Excellency Having thus prepared the way and shew'd the middle way between the too much superstitious Observance of Holy Days on one Hand and the total Neglect or Contempt of them on the other Let no Man therefore judge you in Meat or in Drink or in Respect of an Holy Day or of the New Moon or of the Sabbath Days which are a Shadow of Things to come but the Body is of Christ Col. 2. 16 17. The Apostle doth not here speak to surcease the Use of them utterly in no wise But as those great Holy days now in Use and Observation among us have all a Relation and Tendency unto Christ as his Nativity his Suffering on the Cross His Resurrection from the Dead His Ascension up to the Right Hand of God and his sending the Holy Ghost and Comforter on his Disciples Apostles and Followers on the Day of Pentecost and so in a less measure on each Day of our Assembling our selves together throughout the Year Proceed we now to shew the right manner how to observe this Holy-day in the which our Saviour Jesus Christ rose from the Dead As to which there cannot be a more fit proper and pertinent Text in all the Bible than that we have chosen If ye then be risen with Christ seek those things which are above Wherein is to be taken notice of 1. a thing supposed If ye then be risen with Christ 2. A Direction given Seek those things which are above From the Words consider'd all together is intimated forth that wrong manner of observing Festivals now in Use in the World who look upon and practice it no other than as a time of Feasting and Idleness But herein they forget the Benefits which Christ did for them at such a time as also what Duty is expecting from themselves as arising from thence The Scripture like the Author thereof Christ Jesus who is the Word of God doth effectually answer that true End of his Priesthood As to have Compassion upon the Ignorant and those who are out of the way that is to Heaven and Happiness The Scripture gives them Notice and Warning and Direction to put them in the way again Many of the Commandments and Directions in Scripture are silent Reproofs for it often doth in an implied Manner take Notice of what is amiss or wanting in order to rightly instruct and make it up again And so where Paul by the Spirit speaketh on this wise If then ye be risen with Christ In that manner of Speech of his is contained an hidden Innuendo or Meaning as if many were not risen with Christ for He writes unto these as the choice and best of Christians and thereby He implies that even they had made a good Proficiency and Advancement if even they had gone and proceeded so far which can in no wise be said of that mixed Multitude which is abroad in the World Again many do hear or read concerning the Resurrection of Christ but they do not at the very same time mind and give heed unto what Instruction and Application is to be made thereof unto themselves namely That they also should be risen with Christ For altho People now living on the Earth are not put to Death on the Cross nor as yet laid in the Grave as He was how then can they rise with him This Question is somewhat like that of Nicodemus in John 3. 4. and like that in 1 Cor. 15. 35 36. and so it is to be answer'd in like mauner For as Jesus answer'd Nicodemus Verily verily I say unto thee except a Man be born of Water and of the Spirit He cannot enter into the Kingdom of God even so it is here except a Man be risen with Christ he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God he can have